2. The Practice, Policy & Politics of Emergency Management & the Department of Homeland Security DISASTER EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS: Prepared for: Professor John Bing Prepared By: Erin Potts Central Penn College January 7, 2015 IDS 499 Prepared for: Professor John Bing Prepared By: Erin Potts Central Penn College January 7, 2015 IDS 499

3. WHAT IS DISASTER MANAGEMENT A disaster can be defined as any occurrence that cause damage, ecological disruption, loss of human life, deterioration of health and health services on a scale, sufficient to warrant an extraordinary response from outside the affected community or area”. A disaster can be defined as an occurrence either nature or manmade that causes human suffering and creates human needs that victims cannot alleviate without assistance

4. WHAT IS DISASTER MANAGEMENT COMMUNICATION

5. WHAT IT INVOLVES Dealing with and avoiding both natural and man made disasters. Preparedness before disaster. Rebuilding and supporting society after natural disasters.

6. Natural Disasters MeteorologicalTopographicalEnvironmental Man-made Disasters Technological Industrial accidents Security related Pre-impact phase Impact phase Post-impact phase TYPES OF DISASTERS / PHASES OF DISASTER

7. PRINCIPLES OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT Disaster management is the responsibility of all spheres of government Disaster management should use resources that exist for a day-to-day purpose. Organizations should function as an extension of their core business Individuals are responsible for their own safety. Disaster management planning should focus on large-scale events.

8. CONT.… DM planning should recognize the difference between incidents and disasters. DM planning must take account of the type of physical environment and the structure of the population. DM arrangements must recognise the involvement and potential role of non- government agencies.

9. PHASES OF DISASTER MANAGEMENT Disaster PreparednessDisaster impactDisaster ResponseRehabilitation Disaster Mitigation

10. DISASTER PREPAREDNESS Preparedness should be in the form of money, manpower and materials Evaluation from past experiences about risk Location of disaster prone areas Organization of communication, information and warning system Ensuring co-ordination and response mechanisms

11. CONT.…. Development of public education programme Co-ordination with media National & international relations Keeping stock of foods, drug and other essential commodities.

12. PROPER RESPONSE One of the most important needs during any disaster management is the proper response from an emergency response team. This response is based on the effective communication between the teams and the affected area personnel. There have been many instances in last few decades in which unavailability of proper emergency response team had a great toll on the lives of many.

13. APPROACH OF CREATION OF DISASTER EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION Future StateStrategyImplementation

14. FUTURE STATE This is the stage that is required eventually after the improvement of the complete emergency communication plan.

15. Operational ContinuityCapabilities Needed Governance  Strong leadership requirement  Formal as well as good intra- agency communication  Clear and crisp communication Standard Operating Procedure  Standardized Communication protocol definition and response mechanism  Standardized application usage during the emergency communication  Creation of standardized solution and backup system for any type of disaster management Technology  Data as well as voice standards need to be fixed for real time communication between the response teams.  Model creation with same standard and system so that there is a seamless transfer of information during the emergency situations.  Proper validation and verification of emergency systems need to be done to ensure proper functioning. Training and Exercises  Trainings regarding standardized objectives needs to be created for the response teams.  The response team should be trained enough to understand the complete usage of all the technologies which has been incorporated in the new system. Use of the Plan  Proper planning and documentation for information disbursement is necessary, not only for operational purpose but also for normal exercise and maintenance purpose.  The plan creation should not only cover a small region but should have a holistic view in the plan as well in the implementation of the disaster emergency communication plan

16. STRATEGY CREATION This is the second and the most important element of the complete disaster emergency communication. In this phase actual creation of the final state is done. This is a step by step process in which the objectives and the milestones are defined which is the mapping of the final future state. A defined timeline is also planned for the execution of the plan. This timeline also covers the roles and responsibilities of different stakeholders of the plan.

17. Objectives and Mile StonesDescription Formal Governance Structure  Facilitation of development of governance structure..  Standardized emergency communication capabilities for complete nation  Integration of bot tactical and strategic communication planning  Policy formation and management of government bodies involved in this structure Coordinate the activities and Objectives  Creation and establishment of a source of information  Coordination of technical assistance program for proper implementation  Assessment of government grants for identifying gaps in current communication plan  Facilitation of resource sharing and helping in increasing efficiency  Coordination and interpretability between different bodies. Technology Implementation  Adoption of best voice and data communication method  Research and development of voice and data solution to adapt the needs of disaster communication  Incorporation of advanced encryption standards in the communication Skills and capability Development  Training programs that are needed to raise the skillset of the response team should be created.  Creation of performance objectives and incorporation of these objectives in the training plan is necessary.  Measurement of the increase in skillset after the training program should be done Running System Plan  System plan for better forecasting of disaster management should be done  Effective usage of public and private sector should be done so that efficient running of the plan is achieved.  Enhancement of emergency communication system should be done using resilient and redundant design incorporation, Communication Capabilities  Provision of integration framework for disaster communication  Implementation of preparedness activities  Using the current emergency communication techniques and enhancing them with the planned techniques  Incorporation of technologies to improve federal government’s capabilities to consistent with respect to response and operations.

18. IMPLEMENTATION Implementation of the planned disaster emergency communication should be done in the phased manner which might have three strategies: Local: Initial implementation would be localized with the backing of local authorities and the training program as well as response team preparedness would be managed locally. State or Regional Implementation: Next stage of implementation would be state or regional implementation of the plan. This stage would consist of integration of several locally implemented plans in a regional plan. National: This would be the end product of the complete plan. During this phase the state wise implantation or the regional implementation plan need to be integrated with proper federal authorities in place for nationwide effective emergency communication plan.

19. CONCLUSION Ultimately the final state of the disaster emergency communication plan should be good enough to fill in the gaps of the current situation. It should ensure that proper response is maintained and managed while any disaster situation happens. Hence the correct level of preparedness and training should be the end stage of the overall plan. With the overall training that is now readily available it is no wonder so many have geared toward this as a career field, or even just to be well informed. With the FEMA self-study courses we are able to learn and grow while helping to save the lives of others in our own backyard; it is our duty as citizens to look after one another and the equality or our own well-being.